Here are some interesting quotes from his press conference, from the Eye On Basketball staff: “D’Antoni says they’re going to have to monitor Nash’s minutes and take care of him with his health, just like he’s always had to do. Will do the same with Kobe. When they need to win, those guys will play a lot. “I think the people of Los Angeles will come to appreciate an unbelievable player.” D’Antoni said about Nash. He’s tried to get Steve Blake on his teams for 10 years. Thinks he’s perfect for his system. D’Antoni says the starters are so good that the bench will naturally look bad. He seems confident that the bench will be good. He’s excited about Darius Morris too and just compared Jodie Meeks to Eddie House. “We’ll play the guys that can play.”… “I told Dwight today he can be in every play. We don’t call plays. One of the least efficient plays in basketball is just a straight post-up… If you have the best team, why wouldn’t you play the most possessions that you can play? Any time the possessions are cut down, then a bad call or bad shot, you can lose… My whole philosophy is 24 seconds or less. We just have to get one good shot in 24 seconds… I don’t like to call a lot of plays. I like it to flow… If we’re not averaging 110 or 115 points per game, then we need to talk… Defensively, we should be a bear… You don’t try to over coach. You try to make it simple.”
To keep it short and simple, here are some things we can take from what D’Antoni had to say: Howard is going to put up monster stats in the new offense, Nash is going to be Nash again, Jodie Meeks will be relevant and the team will probably find a way to lead the league in scoring.
The only thing that appears to be a bit confusing is his infatuation with Steve Blake. Isn’t Blake and Chris Duhon being shopped by the team?
Either way, exciting times – good or bad – appear to be ahead in the D’Antoni era. For his sake, lets hope Nash returns sooner than later from his leg injury.
If you’d like to hear the crew on Inside the NBA chime in on the situation (sorry, no Chris Webber), click the video below.
Moving onto other relevant news around the association on Thursday:
- Dwight Howard has not looked like himself for much of the season, so far. Mark Medina of L.A. Daily News has the answer on how Howard’s body is feeling right now: